IDENTIFYING A LOCAL HEALTH CARE ECONOMIC ISSUE

 

Health care economics has the potential to affect each of us either personally or professionally. This impact can be viewed from a health economics point-of-view (where we discuss the value of health care and its efficiency) or it can examine how health care is financed (focus on how health care is funded). Health economics and health care funding have the potential to influence health care outcomes in a variety of ways. The bulleted list below outlines topics and health care issues that many institutions encounter. Organizations often have to implement strategies or initiatives to resolve or improve these issues and create positive patient and institution outcomes.

Examples of health care economic issues:

• The influence of health care economics on community health—for example, social determinants of health (such as access to care and health care finance).
• Supply and demand: How do we in the health care environment exist when there are more needs from communities and patients than we have the resources to supply? An example of this would be a high number of patients and low resource levels such as staff, supplies, and equipment.
• The public’s attitude toward health, disease, and the health care system—for example, how money is distributed has the potential to impact the health care outcomes of certain populations. An example of this would be the lack of access and funding for underserved and rural communities.
• Other issues might include access to care, social determinants of health, senior health, food insecurity or food desserts, inadequate staffing, homelessness, rehospitalization environmental issues leading to chronic disease, etc.

As you move through this course, you will work toward developing a potential solution for a health care issue within your current or desired health care system. The goal of this assignment is to identify an economic health care issue that you will address throughout the course.

Later in the course, you will (a) conduct a needs analysis to justify your focus on this topic area using the literature of the field, (b) present an argument for change in your organization bolstered by a cost-benefit analysis, and (c) advocate for this change at the state level. Keep these future assignments in mind as you select your topic.

Instructions

For this assignment, you will write a brief 2–3 page report about the health care economic issue that you have identified. In addition, you will also be asked to address the reasons why you selected the issue you did, how this issue impacts the work of you, your colleagues, and your organization, as well as describe the gap that you see contributing to this issue.

Be sure to address each main point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, note the requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence. Review the assignment instructions and scoring guide to ensure you understand the work you will be asked to complete and how it will be assessed.

Overall, you will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Describe a health care economic issue and how it impacts a specific community or population.

  Note the data, information, or observations used to support your description.

• Explain the rationale for choosing your health care economic issue.
• Explain how the health care economic issue has affected your work, your organization, your colleagues, and your community.
• Identify the gap that is contributing to the need to address the economic issue.

  Cite at least one piece of evidence to support your identification of the gap. This could be public health data, a peer-reviewed journal article, or another scholarly source.

• Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.

Be sure to reflect on the readings and discussions you have completed so far and consider how the content of these activities might inform your approach to this assignment. Ask your instructor any questions you have about the assignment.

Additional Requirements

• Length of Submission: 2–3 double-spaced pages.
• Number of References: Cite at least one piece of evidence to support your identification of the gap. This could be public health data, a peer-reviewed journal article, or another scholarly source.
• APA formatting: Titles, headings, resources, and citations are formatted according to the current APA style.

Note: As you revise your writing, check out the resources listed on the Writing Center’s

Writing Support

page.

SCORING GUIDE

Your work will be evaluated using this criteria.

VIEW SCORING GUIDE

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze the effects of financial and economic factors (such as cost-benefit, supply and demand, return on investment, and risks) in a health care system on patient care, services offered, and organizational structures and operation.

  Explain the rationale for choosing the health care economic issue.

• Competency 2: Develop ethical and culturally equitable solutions to economic problems within a health care organization in an effort to improve the quality of care and services offered.

  Describe a health care economic issue and how it impacts a specific community or population.

• Competency 3: Justify the qualitative and quantitative information used to guide economic decision making to stakeholders and colleagues.

  Identify the gap that is contributing to the need to address the economic issue.

• Competency 4: Develop ethical and culturally equitable economic strategies to address dynamic environmental forces and ensure the future security of an organization’s resources and its ability to provide quality care.

  Explain how the health care economic issue has affected your work, your organization, colleagues, and community.

• Competency 5: Produce clear, coherent, and professional written work, in accordance with Capella’s writing standards.

  Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.

Health Care Revenue Sources

Introduction

Sustainable health care organizations today need to balance the clinical and fiscal facets of the operation. People at all levels in a health care organization need to understand how the organization makes money (accounts receivable) and how it chooses to allocate or spend these resources (accounts payable).

Early careerists in a health care organization may participate in any or all of the following financial activities:

· Evaluate existing and new health care service lines.

· Develop a departmental budget.

· Provide input to strategic planning or finance department meetings.

Mid-level or advanced careerists may be asked to:

· Evaluate higher-level organization financing options.

· Anticipate cash flow needs.

· Present financial information to the CEO and board.

For the purpose of this assignment, assume you are a manager in a health care organization. Your organization likes to educate employees about the organization’s fiscal operations from the very start—at new hire orientation. You have been asked to conduct a 30-minute presentation at new hire orientation that addresses the organization’s three types of revenue sources: Medicaid, Medicare, and managed care.

Instructions

The PowerPoint presentation you create will contain between 15–20 slides. For one of the studies for this assignment, you conducted independent research on Medicare, Medicaid, and managed care. You will be incorporating this information into your presentation. You will also be expected to record your presentation using Kaltura media or your own device.

Please be sure to address all of the following headings and answer all of the questions underneath each heading in your presentation:

Introduction: Health Care Revenue Sources—Medicare, Medicaid, and Managed Care (2–3 slides)

· What are the three main types of health care revenue sources?

· Note: Find ways to engage your audience in the first few minutes of your presentation. Can you open with a startling statistic or a compelling quote or question? Feel free to be creative when labeling your slides.

Medicare (3–4 slides)

· What is Medicare’s purpose?

· What benefits do Medicare program participants receive?

· What steps do health care organizations take to be reimbursed for the Medicare services they provide?

. Consider creating a flow chart to illustrate the major steps in the process.

· What challenges do health care organizations face in terms of reimbursement?

· What data and/or quality metrics does the organization need to provide for reimbursement?

· How long does it take to receive reimbursement?

Medicaid (3–4 slides)

· What is Medicaid’s purpose?

· What benefits do Medicaid program participants receive?

· What steps do health care organizations take to be reimbursed for the Medicaid services they provide?

. Consider creating a flow chart to illustrate the major steps in the process.
· What challenges do health care organizations face in terms of reimbursement?

· What data and/or quality metrics does the organization need to provide to be reimbursed?

· How long does it take to receive reimbursement?

Managed Care (3–4 slides)

· What is managed care’s purpose?

· What benefits do managed care program participants receive?

· What steps do health care organizations take to be reimbursed for the managed care services they provide?

. Consider creating a flow chart to illustrate the major steps in the process.
· What challenges do health care organizations face in terms of reimbursement?
· What data and/or quality metrics does the organization need to provide for reimbursement?
· How long does it take to receive reimbursement?

Conclusion (2–3 slides)

· What key information do you want new hires to retain from your presentation?

. Consider creating a grid or job aid that highlights critical information about each revenue source all in one place.

· How can you close your presentation in a memorable way?

Practice and Record Your Presentation

· After preparing your slides and speaker notes, practice delivering your presentation. Do 
not simply read your PowerPoint slides. Instead, present your slides as if you had an actual group of new hires in the room with you. How would you present the information to them in a memorable way? Remember the more interactive you can make your presentation, the more engaged your audience will be. You can pause or edit Kaltura audios; however, editing capability is limited. Practice will help you sound professional.

· Record your presentation using Kaltura media or your own device. Consult the

Using Kaltura

guidelines for additional information.

. Note: If you require the use of assistive technology or alternative communication methods to participate in this activity, please contact Disability Services to request accommodations.

· Listen to your audio prior to posting to ensure it is loud enough.

· Upload your slides, speaker’s notes and recording to the assignment area.

Submission Requirements

· Written communication: Your slides need to include bullet points highlighting the key concepts. As a best practice, each slide should contain no more than 5–7 bullet points and no more than 5–7 words per bullet point. Use speaker notes to include additional information. Appropriately balance text and visuals. Make sure your content is clear, persuasive, well-organized and free of errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

· Title slide: Develop a descriptive title for your presentation of approximately 5–15 words. It should stir interest, yet maintain professional decorum.

· Length: Approximately 15–20 slides; 30-minute recording. Use Kaltura to upload your recording to the courseroom, or provide a working link your instructor can access.

· Font and font size: Appropriate size and weight for presentations, generally 24–28 points for headings and no smaller than 18 points for bullet-point text.

· Reference slide: Include a minimum of three citations to current scholarly and or authoritative sources in a final reference slide. These sources need to be from your independent research, over and above the resources provided to you in the unit studies. Current means they can be no more than five years old.

· APA format: Ensure in-text citations and references adhere to APA format. For an APA refresher, consult the

APA Style and Format

page on Campus.

· Scoring guide: Review this assignment’s scoring guide so that you understand how your instructor is going to evaluate your work.

Resources

·

Health Care Revenue Sources Scoring Guide

.

·
APA Style and Format.

·
Using Kaltura.

·

DisabilityServices@Capella.edu

.